Stone Cold Fox

A helicopter rushes Bea home, and a doctor tells her to rest. Bea cannot rest, knowing Gale has enough information to destroy Bea’s life. Bea realizes she needs a friend, and she reaches out to Syl, who promptly invites Bea to her home in Brooklyn. Syl greets Bea, but she quickly tells Bea that their last conversation was harsh. Bea admits to the possibility that she and Syl have the same mother, lamenting how her childhood was plagued by her mother’s irrational behavior. Syl says she looked for Bea for a long time and implies that someone else pointed her to Bea. Bea assumes it was Bea’s mother, and she becomes upset, searching around to see if her mother is at Syl’s home. Syl assures Bea she never found Bea’s mother, and it was Gale who got Syl the job at the Case Company. Gale told Syl to get Bea to consent to a DNA test and to threaten the sexual assault case against Collin as a last resort. Syl does not like Gale, and Syl distanced herself from Gale once it became clear that Gale wanted to hurt Bea. Bea is shocked, realizing that Gale has been one step ahead of Bea throughout their feud, and Bea is furious with Syl. Syl tries to calm Bea down, but Bea tells Syl they can never be friends, reminding herself that she cannot trust anyone but herself.

Bea makes her way to Gale’s building, fantasizing about the ways she might kill Gale with her own hands. Bea is flustered, and she wonders how much influence her mother has on this situation. At Gale’s apartment, Gale welcomes Bea with a mug of tea, and Bea is frustrated by Gale’s calm, confident demeanor. Gale reveals that she knew about Bea’s past early in Bea’s relationship with Collin because she found Bea’s mother. Gale hands Bea a file on Victoria Osthoff, the widow of a rich Texan, and Bea immediately recognizes Victoria as her mother. Bea slaps Gale twice, and Gale taunts her, calling her an animal. Gale insists that the wealthy are inherently superior to poor people, calling Bea trash and a criminal. Bea wonders if her mother is watching her, now, as Gale claims Bea’s mother called off their alliance to avoid meeting Bea. Bea knows her mother would never drop out of a con like that, and Bea tackles Gale, suffocating her with a pillow. Taking away the pillow, Bea enjoys strangling Gale with her bare hands, but she stops at the last moment. Gale gasps for breath, Bea takes the file on Victoria, and Bea leaves, walking home and wondering if Gale is already calling the police. At home, Bea finds her mother waiting in the garden.

Bea’s mother compliments her home, impressed that Bea conned her way into the Case family. Bea brings up Syl, and Bea’s mother explains that she married Giles Wink, thinking she could live the American Dream, but she got bored and left, using the fire to make people think Bea and her mother were dead. Bea suspects that her mother was hurt by Syl’s distance from her mother, as Syl preferred Giles, but Bea’s mother tries to deny it. Bea’s mother focuses on the good times they had together, implying that Bea and her mother can have good times again now that they are reunited. Bea wants nothing to do with her mother, but they go inside to discuss the situation with Gale. Bea reassures herself that she is not like her mother because she did not kill Gale, but she laments that Gale probably called the police. Bea’s mother reveals that Gale is bound and gagged in Gale’s apartment, telling Bea that her mother would never let anyone hurt Bea.

Bea reluctantly agrees that they need to resolve the Gale situation, but she is upset that her mother talked to Gale at all. Bea’s mother frames the situation with Gale as a long con to protect Bea, and Bea’s mother plans to re-enter Bea’s life in the Case family, ultimately leaving with Bea’s child to continue their prior life of conning and traveling. Bea agrees to meet her mother behind Gale’s building after Collin falls asleep that night, but Bea demands an apology from her mother. Bea’s mother drops her hard demeanor for a moment, apologizes, and leaves.

Collin comes home stressed and tells Bea about a possible security breach at the company. Bea assures him that the Case family and company are untouchable, also reaffirming for herself that they are safe. Bea worries about killing Gale, wondering how she and her mother might do it. They watch TV, and Bea sees herself in a mirror, thinking about how Collin sees her and how great it is to be Bea Case. At night, Bea studies Collin’s face, thinking about how he is the man she wants him to be, and she wants a calm, uneventful life with him.

Collin’s alarm goes off in the morning, and Bea plans to tell him about her past. She did not go to Gale’s building, so she knows either Gale or her mother will be beginning the process of ruining her life. The phone rings, and Bea tries to stop Collin from answering. However, Calliope is calling, and they are both surprised she is awake so early. Collin gets off the phone and explains to Bea that there was a fire at Gale’s building. Collin cries, and Bea comforts him, realizing that her mother killed Gale anyway, even though Bea betrayed her mother by refusing to show up. Bea appreciates that her mother killed Gale just to protect Bea, but she wonders when and how her mother will insert herself into Bea’s life again.

Bea resents how pregnancy has changed her body, and Haven guides her into the baby shower. Nora Wallace-Leicester, Gale’s mother, is there, but Bea does not detect any malice from her, assuming Gale did not tell her mother about Bea and Bea’s mother. Collin arrives in good spirits, and Bea thinks the new medication Collin is taking is working well. Bea suspects that Collin was a little relieved by Gale’s death, as she was another source of stress in his life. Syl arrives, and Bea gets her a drink. Syl gives Bea a DNA test result, which confirms they are sisters, but she promises Bea that she will not tell the Case family. Syl assumes Gale’s death was Bea’s mother’s doing, though Bea does not confirm it. Syl wants to find their mother, and she broke up with John, making Bea think that, just as Bea wants to be more like Syl, Syl wants to be more like Bea. Bea knows her mother is watching and waiting, and she will need to be vigilant against her mother’s threats in the future. Bea and Collin open gifts, and the last present is long and thin. The card reads, “For your own bunny” (353), and though Bea does not say what the gift is, she is not surprised by it.